The North Korea leader gave the speech at the Self-Defence 2021 exhibition
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Kim Jong-un set out his vision of creating an “invincible military”.
He said North Korea was only increasing military in self defence and he had no plans of starting a war, according to reports.
The North Korea leader gave the speech at the Self-Defence 2021 exhibition held in Pyongyang on Monday.
“We are not discussing war with anyone, but rather to prevent war itself and to literally increase war deterrence for the protection of national sovereignty,” he said.
Kim Jong-un accused the US of creating tensions with its “wrong judgments and actions”.
“The US has frequently signalled it’s not hostile to our state, but there is no action-based evidence to make us believe that they are not hostile,” Mr Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
“The US is continuing to create tensions in the region with its wrong judgments and actions.”
The leader reviewed a rare exhibition of weapons systems which included tanks.
It was an event to celebrate the previous day’s 76th birthday of the ruling Workers’ Party.
Last month, North Korea said it had successfully fired a new hypersonic missile.
The missile, called Hwasong-8, was hailed as a “strategic weapon” by state media, implying that Pyongyang are developing a new system capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
